Text information security protection method based on computer-generated holograms.

Currently, computer-generated holograms (CGHs) based on ray tracing technology are generated faster and faster, and the reconstructed scenes are getting bigger and bigger and contain more and more information. Based on this situation, there are also more applications of using CGHs to hide information, but there is a lack of research on the ability to hide information. To address this issue, this paper proposes a point-sampling CGH method based on ray tracing. Our method utilizes ray tracing techniques to rapidly sample text information at different depths in the scene and hides the depth-encoded text information in the carrier image using discrete cosine transform. The reconstructed image after embedding shows good results, with a peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of 29.56 dB between the hidden images before and after embedding. The PSNR value between the embedded carrier image and the original carrier image is 51.66 dB, making it difficult for the human eye to distinguish, thereby effectively protecting the generated CGH. We also analyzed the maximum information density and observed that computational holograms obtain the maximum information density at 200×200 resolution.

Global, regional and national burdens of Nasopharynx cancer in the adolescents and young adults from 1990 to 2019 and its predictions.

PURPOSE: To use data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019 to report the global, regional and national rates and trends of deaths incidence, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for Nasopharynx cancer (NPC) in adolescents and young adults (AYAs). METHODS: Data from the GBD 2019 were used to analyze deaths incidence, prevalence and DALYs due to NPC at global, regional, and national levels. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to calculate the average annual percentage changes (AAPC). The association between incidence, prevalence and DALYs and socioeconomic development was analyzed using the GBD Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Finally, projections were made until 2030 and calculated in Nordpred. RESULTS: The incidence, prevalence, death and DALYs rates (95%UI) due to NPC 0.96 (0.85-1.09, 6.31 (5.54-7.20),0.20 (0.19-0.22), and 12.23(11.27-13.29) in 2019, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the incidence and prevalence rates increased by 1.79 (95% CI 1.03 to 2.55) and 2.97(95% CI 2.13 to 3.82) respectively while the deaths and DALYs rates declined by 1.64(95%CI 1.78 to 1.49) and 1.6(95%CI 1.75 to 1.4) respectively. Deaths and DALYs rates in South Asia, East Asia, North Africa and Middle East decreased with SDI. Incidence and prevalence rates in East Asia increased with SDI. At the national level, the incidence and prevalence rates are high in China, Taiwan(China), Singapore, Malaysia, Brunel Darussalam, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Malta. Meanwhile, the deaths and DALYs rates are still high in Malaysia, Brunel Darussalam, Greenland and Taiwan(Province of China). The deaths and DALYs rates are low in Honduras, Finland and Norway. From the 2020 to 2030, ASIR、ASPR and ASDR in most regions are predicted to stable, but DALYs tends to decline. CONCLUSION: NPC in AYAs is a significant global public problem. The incidence, prevalence, and DALYs rates vary widely by region and country. Therefore different regions and countries should be targeted to improve the disease burden of NPC.

Prognostic modeling for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NC) undergoing concurrent chemoradiotherapy using clinical and enhanced MRI-Delta radiomics data: A preliminary study.

BACKGROUND: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NC) is one of the prevalent malignancies of the head and neck region with poor prognosis. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to establish a predictive model for assessing NC prognosis based on clinical and MR radiomics data, subsequently to develop a nomogram for practical application. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was conducted on clinical and imaging data collected between May 2010 and August 2018, involving 211 patients diagnosed with histologically confirmed NC who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy or radical surgery in Xiangyang No. 1 People's Hospital. According to 5-10 years of follow-up results, the patients were divided into two groups: the study group (n= 76), which experienced recurrence, metastasis, or death, and the control group (n= 135), characterized by normal survival. Training and testing subsets were established at a 7:3 ratio, with a predefined time cutoff. In the training set, three prediction models were established: a clinical data model, an imaging model, and a combined model using the integrated variation in clinical characteristics along with MR radiomics parameters (Delta-Radscore) observed before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Model performance was compared using Delong's test, and net clinical benefit was assessed via decision curve analysis (DCA). Then, external validation was conducted on the test set, and finally a nomogram predicting NC prognosis was created. RESULTS: Univariate analysis identified that the risk factors impacting the prognosis of NC included gender, pathological type, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), degree of tumor differentiation, MR enhancement pattern, and Delta-Radscore (P< 0.05). The combined model established based on the abovementioned factors exhibited significantly higher predictive performance [AUC: 0.874, 95% CI (0.810-0.923)] than that of the clinical data model [AUC: 0.650, 95% CI (0.568-0.727)] and imaging model [AUC: 0.824, 95% CI (0.753-0.882)]. DCA also demonstrated superior clinical net benefit in the combined model, a finding further verified by results from the test set. The developed nomogram, based on the combined model, exhibited promising performance in clinical applications. CONCLUSION: The Delta-Radscore derived from MR radiomics data before and after concurrent chemoradiotherapy helps enhance the performance of the NC prognostic model. The combined model and resultant nomogram provide valuable support for clinical decision-making in NC treatment, ultimately contributing to an improved survival rate.

The relationship between prebiotic intake and allergic rhinitis.

Objectives: Exploring the relationship between intake of probiotics and the prevalence of allergic rhinitis. Methods: Based on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, dietary supplement labels were examined to identify products containing probiotics and prebiotics. Statistical methods were used to analyze the factors influencing the prevalence of allergic rhinitis, and further stratified analysis was conducted to control for confounding factors. Results: The proportion of individuals not consuming probiotics was significantly higher in the allergic rhinitis (AR) group than in those consuming them, suggesting a correlation between probiotics and AR. In the male subgroup with probiotic intake, the adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.28 (0.10-0.75), p = .02, indicating that probiotic intake was a protective factor for AR in the male population. In the probiotic-intake group, the odds ratio for age < 65 was 0.26 (0.07-0.94), p = .04, and for age ≥ 80 was less than 1 with p < .0001, suggesting that probiotic intake was a protective factor for AR in age < 65 and age ≥ 80 populations, both with statistical significance. Conclusion: Intake of probiotics is associated with a reduced prevalence of allergic rhinitis, particularly in the male population and individuals aged <65 years and ≥ 80 years. Level of Evidence: Level 4.

Supervised Contrastive Learning with Angular Margin for the Detection and Grading of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Many researchers have realized the intelligent medical diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy (DR) from fundus images by using deep learning methods, including supervised contrastive learning (SupCon). However, although SupCon brings label information into the calculation of contrastive learning, it does not distinguish between augmented positives and same-label positives. As a result, we propose the concept of Angular Margin and incorporate it into SupCon to address this issue. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our strategy, we tested it on two datasets for the detection and grading of DR. To align with previous work, Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1, and AUC were selected as evaluation metrics. Moreover, we also chose alignment and uniformity to verify the effect of representation learning and UMAP (Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection) to visualize fundus image embeddings. In summary, DR detection achieved state-of-the-art results across all metrics, with Accuracy = 98.91, Precision = 98.93, Recall = 98.90, F1 = 98.91, and AUC = 99.80. The grading also attained state-of-the-art results in terms of Accuracy and AUC, which were 85.61 and 93.97, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that Angular Margin is an excellent intelligent medical diagnostic algorithm, performing well in both DR detection and grading tasks.

Clinical characteristics and outcome of coronavirus disease 2019 infection in patients with solid organ transplants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have reported cases of COVID-19 infection in transplant recipients, most of them only involve a small number of patients and narrow geographic areas. This study aims to investigate the clinical characteristics, morbidity, severity, and mortality of COVID-19 infection among solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients by meta-analysis. METHOD: We performed a literature search using the databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar as of November 26, 2020. We included randomized controlled trials and cohort studies, excluding case reports and small case series (n < 10). The pooled incidence proportion and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate the combined results of forty-seven studies were included for the meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2. Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation was used to stabilize the specific rate variance. Publication bias was using Egger's test. RESULTS: The morbidity rate of COVID-19 in SOT recipients was 2.10% [95% CI 1.35-3.01], and the proportion of severe infection was 22.46% [95% CI 15.74-29.90]. The mortality rate was 17.38% [95% CI 13.72-21.34]. In the analysis by transplanted organ, the proportion of patients with severe infection was highest in recipients of two or more transplants 48.85% [95% CI 11.88-86.38]. The mortality rate was highest in lung transplant recipients 25.12% [95% CI 16.94-34.00]. The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in SOT recipients were fever (73.39%), cough (58.90%), and respiratory symptoms (45.77%). CONCLUSION: SOT was a risk factor for worse COVID-19 outcomes, although the morbidity of COVID-19 in SOT recipients was not markedly higher than the general population. These results may change when our understanding of the disease progress.

Study on Toll-Like Receptor 2-Mediated Inflammation-Induced Familial Hypertension Combined with Hyperlipemia and Its Mechanism.

According to the latest clinical data, cardiovascular diseases have ranked first in prone diseases, causing 40% of the premature deaths of China's population. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Toll-like receptor 2- (TLR2-) mediated inflammation on the occurrence and development of familial hypertension combined with hyperlipemia and its related mechanism. Blood specimens from 66 patients undergoing coronary atherosclerosis were collected and grouped, including 22 patients into the control group, 25 into the familial hypertension group, and 19 into familial hypertension combined with hyperlipemia group. In this study, ELISA was conducted for determining the levels of four inflammatory factors of TLR2 and IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-ɑ, and CCL2 in serum and the levels of relevant indicators in mice. C57Bl/6j and genetically engineered C.129(B6)-Tlr2tm1Kir/J mice were given subcutaneous injection of normal saline (wild-saline group), 8-week 40% high-fat diet (wild-high-fat group), and subcutaneous Alzet-implanted angiotensin II micropump supplemented with the research diet (wild-high fat-Ang II group, Tlr2 -/- -high fat-Ang II group). Blood pressure in mice was recorded consecutively with a noninvasive hemopiezometer for eight weeks. TLR2 and IL-1ß, IL-6, TNF-ɑ, and CCL2 in serum of patients with familial hypertension combined with hyperlipemia and the hypertension combined with hyperlipemia mouse model were higher than those in the normal group. Under combined intervention of Ang II and the research diet, mRNA expression related to blood pressure, blood lipid, and fat metabolism in Tlr2 -/- genetically engineering mice was significantly lower than that in the wild-high fat-Ang II group. The phosphorylation levels of AKT, IKK, and p65 in mice with hypertension combined with hyperlipidemia were significantly higher than those in normal group. The levels of blood pressure and blood lipid in mice after blocking the AKT or NF-κB pathway were significantly downregulated compared with those in the wild-high fat-Ang II group, with statistically significant differences (both P < 0.05). In conclusion, TLR2 regulates inflammation through Akt-NF-κB pathway, thus inducing the occurrence and development of familial hypertension combined with hyperlipemia.

Cardiac biomarkers and COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically investigate the relationship between cardiac biomarkers and COVID-19 severity and mortality. METHODS: We performed a literature search using PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied to estimate the combined results of 67 studies. A meta-analysis of cardiac biomarkers was used to evaluate disease mortality and severity in COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: A meta-analysis of 7812 patients revealed that patients with high levels of cardiac troponin I (SMD = 0.81 U/L, 95% CI = 0.14-1.48, P = 0.017), cardiac troponin T (SMD = 0.78 U/L, 95% CI = 0.07-1.49, P = 0.032), high-sensitive cardiac troponin I (SMD = 0.66 pg/mL, 95% CI = 0.51-0.81, P < 0.001), high-sensitive cardiac troponin T (SMD = 0.93 U/L, 95% CI = 0.21-1.65, P = 0.012), creatine kinase-MB (SMD = 0.54 U/L, 95% CI = 0.39-0.69, P < 0.001), and myoglobin (SMD = 0.80 U/L, 95% CI = 0.57-1.03, P < 0.001) were associated with prominent disease severity in COVID-19 infection. Moreover, 9532 patients with a higher serum level of cardiac troponin I (SMD = 0.51 U/L, 95% CI = 0.37-0.64, P < 0.001), high-sensitive cardiac troponin (SMD = 0.51 ng/L, 95% CI = 0.29-0.73, P < 0.001), high-sensitive cardiac troponin I (SMD = 0.51 pg/mL, 95% CI = 0.38-0.63, P < 0.001), high-sensitive cardiac troponin T (SMD = 0.85 U/L, 95% CI = 0.63-1.07, P < 0.001), creatine kinase-MB (SMD = 0.48 U/L, 95% CI = 0.32-0.65, P < 0.001), and myoglobin (SMD = 0.55 U/L, 95% CI = 0.45-0.65, P < 0.001) exhibited a prominent level of mortality from COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSION: Cardiac biomarkers (cardiac troponin I, cardiac troponin T, high-sensitive cardiac troponin, high-sensitive cardiac troponin I, high-sensitive cardiac troponin T, creatine kinase-MB, and myoglobin) should be more frequently applied in identifying high-risk COVID-19 patients so that timely treatment can be implemented to reduce severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients.

Arabidopsis ADF1 is Regulated by MYB73 and is Involved in Response to Salt Stress Affecting Actin Filament Organization.

Actin cytoskeleton and transcription factors play key roles in plant response to salt stress; however, little is known about the link between the two regulators in response to salt stress. Actin-depolymerizing factors (ADFs) are conserved actin-binding proteins in eukaryotes. Here, we revealed that the expression level of ADF1 was induced by salt stress. The adf1 mutants showed significantly reduced survival rate, increased percentage of actin cable and reduced density of actin filaments, while ADF1 overexpression seedlings displayed the opposite results when compared with WT under the same condition. Furthermore, biochemical assays revealed that MYB73, a R2R3 MYB transcription factor, binds to the promoter of ADF1 and represses its expression via the MYB-binding site core motif ACCTAC. Taken together, our results indicate that ADF1 participates in salt stress by regulating actin organization and may also serve as a potential downstream target of MYB73, which is a negative regulator of salt stress.

A versatile bacterial membrane-binding chimeric peptide with enhanced photodynamic antimicrobial activity.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has become an effective antibiosis method for overcoming antibiotic resistance. In this study, we developed a versatile bacterial membrane-binding chimeric peptide PpIX-[PEG8-(KLAKLAK)2]2 (denoted as PPK) by conjugating a photosensitizer protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) with an antimicrobial peptide (KLAKLAK)2 (KLA) for effective photodynamic inactivation of bacteria. The chimeric peptide PPK with positively charged properties and an α-helical conformation could rapidly bind to microbial cells through electrostatic interactions and membrane insertion. Moreover, PPK could disrupt the bacterial membrane and further elicit lipid bilayer leakage to kill bacteria by toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by PpIX under 660 nm light. In vitro experiments demonstrated that cationic PPK possessed excellent antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli). Afterward, PPK also exhibited perfect therapeutic effects on S. aureus-infected mice without any systemic side effects. This chimeric peptide PPK will show great potential for photodynamic antibiosis.

Corrigendum: Arabidopsis PCaP2 Functions as a Linker Between ABA and SA Signals in Plant Water Deficit Tolerance.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00578.].

Mechanism and kinetics of dye desorption from dye-loaded carbon (XC-72) with alcohol-water system as desorbent.

In this paper, alcohol (methanol, ethanol, n-propanol)-water system was used as solution for the desorption of Acid Orange 7 (AO7), Ponceau 2R and Rhodamine B (RhB) from dye-loaded carbon (XC-72). Excellent degradation efficiency was obtained (desorption efficiency reaches 77.35%, 85.60%, 96.86% for Ponceau 2R, AO7 and Rhodamine B, respectively) and it was significantly influenced by alcohol content and the length of carbon chain in alcohol (hydrophobicity). In addition, desorption kinetics was fitted by a second-order desorption model, and the desorbed quantity at equilibrium (qe) and rate constant (kd) were calculated, respectively.

Anti­inflammatory effects of oxymatrine on rheumatoid arthritis in rats via regulating the imbalance between Treg and Th17 cells.

Oxymatrine (OMT), a monosomic alkaloid extracted from the Chinese herb, Sophora flavescens Ait, has long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential anti­inflammatory effect of OMT, and its modulation on imbalance between regulatory T (Treg) cells and T helper (Th) 17 cells in rats with collagen­induced arthritis (CIA). Sprague­Dawley rats were immunized with type II collagen and following a second collagen immunization, the rats were treated with OMT or dexamethasone (DXM) intraperitoneally once a day for 43 days. Paw swelling, arthritic score and joint histopathology were evaluated. The Treg/Th17­mediated autoreactive response was assessed by determining serum levels of inflammatory response cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)­α and interleukin (IL)­17, using an enzyme­linked immunosorbent assay. The mRNA levels of forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) and retinoic acid­related orphan receptor (ROR)γt in spleen cells stimulated with type II collagen were determined using reverse transcription­quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis. In addition, the protein expression levels of FOXP3 and RORγt were measured using western blot analysis. The results showed that OMT treatment significantly reduced the severity of CIA, markedly abrogating paw swelling, arthritic scores and synovial hyperplasia, and the increased loss in body weight. OMT significantly reduced the production of TNF­α and IL­17A, upregulated FOXP3 and downregulated RORγt in rats with CIA. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that OMT exhibited a protective effect on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) through the inhibition of inflammation and regulation of Treg/Th17 in the CIA rats, suggesting that OMT may be used as an immune suppressive and cartilage protective medicine in human RA.